{LOL} Mounted Stamps

Welcome to my first installment of “ALL THINGS LOL” No, not “laughing out loud”. Ask my kids and they’ll tell you how I love to label, organize and laminate! My daughter commented just yesterday about how crazy-organized my craft room seems to be. She was looking for a cowboy boot or horseshoe stamp. We paged through my handy-dandy 3-ring binder of stamp images and quickly located the items she was looking for in “CD-53”.

Now I’ve read lots of blogs and articles from some of the best and brightest crafters out there and there seems to be two creative environments out there. There are those who feel  more creative when things are sort of spread out and casual. A sort of chaotic clutter situtation. Then there are those who prefer highly organized and streamlined work spaces. A sort of utilitarian approach if you will.  Myself, I prefer the latter. I’m relaxed and creative in my workspace when I know 2 things:

1. HOW to find something

2. WHERE to find something.

So, I’m going to share some of the ways I manage to navigate my supplies, stay organized, and work efficiently in my work space. Thus begins a series of weekly blog posts that cover how I keep my "stuff" at my finger tips…… ready? Let's dig in!

My “Must Have” Tools = 3-Ring Binder (labeled of course!) + Dividers (tabbed or handmade). Page protectors are optional, but I find they make turning the pages faster (and it’s kind of like laminating)!

Simply stamp your image onto a sheet of 8.5x11 copy paper. In this case, both of these stamps are going to be sorted into the same category so they can both be stamped on the same sheet.

Mark the page with a "location". In this case, “Wooden Block” tells me that the stamp is a mounted stamp and that I’ll find it in the basket designated for the handful of mounted stamps I own. In this case, I also listed the theme or category.

The stamps get placed in the basket on the shelf. (No kids, they aren’t laminated, I just store them in a clear bag to keep them dust-free)

The stamped image sheet is slipped into a page protector (almost like lamination) and placed in the 3-ring binder.

The next time I need a stamp with a wedding-anniversary-love theme, I’ll go to my binder, look under the MISC category, choose an image, and pull it from the basket!

In {Part 2} I’ll show you how I’ve organized my huge assortment of acrylic stamps. The process is

slightly different and the storage options vary depending on the size and shape.

Do you need a stream-lined work space or do you thrive in a little chaotic clutter? I’d love to hear from you…..Thanks for stopping by the tator patch!